Tilting rotary furnace system for recovery of non-ferrous metals from scrap or dross and method of operation

A furnace system for recovering a non-ferrous metal from a charge of material containing the metal, comprising:

• a furnace chamber having walls defining a refractory chamber with faceted interior surfaces, the refractory chamber adapted to receive the charge of material, and wherein:
• the interior surfaces of the furnace chamber form a polygon when taken in cross-section along a longitudinal axis of the furnace chamber;
• the walls of the furnace chamber comprise a rear wall, a first frustum shaped end section connected to the rear wall, a second frustum shaped end section and a cylindrical mid-section disposed between and connecting the end sections, ends of the end sections proximal the mid-section having a larger radius than ends of the end sections distal the mid-section;
• a drive system to rotate the furnace chamber;
• and
• a burner introduced into the furnace chamber through an inlet passage of the second end section at angle to the longitudinal axis of the furnace chamber and for introducing heat energy to heat the charge of material into a flowable mode in the refractory chamber, wherein:
• the burner introduction angle and the furnace chamber geometry are cooperatively selected such that during operation of the furnace system the heat energy introduced by the burner is progressively reflected off of a first lateral wall area and backward toward the rear wall and off the rear wall forward toward a second lateral wall area opposing the first lateral wall area.

A furnace system for recovering a non-ferrous metal from a charge of material containing the metal, comprising:

• a furnace chamber having walls defining a refractory chamber, the refractory chamber adapted to receive the charge of material and the metal contained in the charge of material being heatable into a flowable mode in the refractory chamber, the walls of the furnace chamber further defining an inlet passage to provide access to the refractory chamber;
• a rolling surface disposed on the furnace chamber adjacent the inlet passage;
• a door having a closed position adjacent the inlet passage and an open position to provide access to the inlet passage;
• a plurality of rollers disposed on the door that engage the rolling surface when the door is in the closed position and during operation of the furnace system allow the furnace chamber to rotate with respect to the door;
• and
• a support structure coupled to the door with a suspension;
• wherein during operation of the furnace system and thermal expansion of the furnace chamber the rollers and suspension maintain the door in the closed position and with annular gap between the furnace chamber and the door.